[ Background ]
According to the FDA, the most effective way to prevent an allergic reaction is strict avoidance of trigger foods. To do so, the safest approach is to carefully read ingredients and avoid any product that contains allergens before buying groceries. But labels are often too complicated, and the text is too tiny, making it easy to miss an allergen. For them, buying groceries is neither easy nor safe.

[ Insight ]
We believed this problem could be solved through Sam’s Club’s unique way of shopping. Sam’s Club operates on a membership model, and each member’s information is saved to an individual account. Sam’s Club members also shop by scanning product barcodes themselves through Scan & Go. We focused on two things. The ability to store each member’s allergy information because it’s membership-based, and the exact moment a product is scanned through Scan & Go.

[ Process ]
1. Members register allergens they (or their family) need to avoid in their account profile.
2. They scan the barcode of the groceries they want to purchase as usual using Scan & Go.
3. If the item contains an allergen, a warning pop-up appears immediately on the screen.
4. If they tap Cancel, the item is automatically not added to the cart.
5. Only safe items make it into the cart, allowing members to purchase without allergy risk.